For the majority of our guests at Alaska West, the first few weeks of our season is all about two things -swinging flies for big bright king salmon and/or chucking big mouse and sculpin imitations for hungry rainbow trout.

However, during the first part of our season, an often overlooked species on our river are Arctic grayling – arguably one of the most picturesque fish of all time.

In June and early July, before the salmon egg and flesh drop, grayling can often be found is smaller side channels off of the main river, feeding primarily on insects. That’s right, the same insects found on your local trout stream!

Small stoneflies, caddisflies, and midges anywhere in the size 12-18 range work well in our neck of the woods and can be a fun change of pace during your week on the Kanektok. Think small water, light tippet, sight fishing, and stunning fish.

So, if you’re heading our way in the next few weeks, consider bringing a few traditional dry flies along!

Today we present you with a pretty cool photo of what we think is one of the most under appreciated, yet most stunning fish in Alaska, the Arctic grayling. If you thought grayling were nothing more than a drab gray fish with a big dorsal fin, think again!

It’s been a while since we showed our grayling some love, and today we right that wrong.

In our neck of the woods, trout eat mice (well, shrews to be exact). It’s no secret, we write about it a lot.. Why? Because it’s awesome!

However, did you know that grayling have also been known to take down their share of mammals as well? Its true, during certain times of year, particularly early season, large Arctic grayling can be just as aggressive towards mouse patterns as rainbow trout are, just scroll up for proof!

We’ve often wondered how often trout and grayling actually feed on shrews, and whether or not they actively search out mammals as prey. Well, just a few days ago, the Nature Conservancy released a summary of a new article published in the journal, Ecology of Freshwater Fish, studying just how often trout and grayling eat mammals. We’ve been waiting for this type of research to come out for a long time, click the link to check it out!

Last week he heard how Jason Rivers fishes for grayling around Fairbanks in Interior Alaska. Today we learn about a very different kind of grayling fishing, from Alaska West’s own Adam Kryder.

Midge Fishing for Grayling In Alaska

Its no secret that King Salmon season gets a lot of press on our website, but let’s take a minute to think about another type of magic at that same time of year – excellent dry fly fishing for grayling.

In June and July, the egg and flesh drop of the salmon has not yet started. The grayling are ravenous, and can be found packed in little side channels that very closely mimic a lot of the dynamics of spring creek fishing – tight casts, sight fishing, matching the hatch. Just like spring creek fishing, we highly recommend a nice soft 4 weight fly rod, and some 6x tippet or less with midge patterns.

One of the big advantages of fishing midge patterns for grayling is that midges are naturally occurring, and will hatch in the cold, wet, and weird conditions that we often encounter that time of year in Alaska. Even if there is a lot of wind, grayling are usually found tucked back in side channels where a wind shadow is created. Most of the time you can find a midge hatch coming off.

We definitely look at being very versatile with our fishing skills, and you wouldn’t believe just how nice it feels to take an hour or two at the end of a day and fall back to that soft 4 weight. Instead of continuing to huck a huge spey line – especially if the fishing has already been incredible, or if it is a slow day. Sometimes, with a little touch of something different, and a moment’s pause, we can learn even more about the entirety of the ecosystem that our river provides. And grayling are beautiful!

Gear Recommendations

Your favorite 4 weight. We highly recommend checking out some of the modern fiberglass rods that can be researched on thefiberglassmanifesto.com.

Any click pawl reel matched to balance the rod. Ebay, craigslist, garage sales, flea markets, etc… are great sources to dig up classic sound and feel for cheap. Try a search for “Pflueger Medalist”.

If there’s a mecca for Alaskan grayling fishing, Fairbanks has to be it! Jason Rivers manages Big Ray’s Fly Shop in Fairbanks, and he was kind enough to put together his go-to grayling rig for us.

Thanks, Jason!

Grayling Rig Introduction

Fairbanks, Alaska would not be the first place you would find water to use a spey or switch rod – or would it?

Grayling fishing in the Interior is top notch. There are days when bringing 40-50 fish to the hand is not uncommon. Most grayling are caught on dry flies or drifting nymphs. The average size is 10 to 18 inches with these methods.

But if you are looking for the 20 inch plus grayling…you got to go BIG!

That is where spey and switch rods come in. I am not talking about a 14′ 9 weight spey rod, although there are places I fish those too. Here is the rig I use when I’m targeting grayling.

The Commentary

9′ 4 weight rods are the norm in the Interior, so the TFO Deer Creek at 11 foot is a little long – but its mending capabilities make up for it. I use 20 pound backing with an arbor knot to the reel and a king sling to the Line. I really like the Ambush or Rio’s Outbound for most of my fishing. I don’t use sinktips for grayling so I do not see the need for spey line in this situation. But I am open to the idea and I am going to be trying a Airflo 360 Skagit Compact on this rig this year for bigger rivers and bigger grayling…

I keep most of my connections simple. For my line to leader I use either a king sling or a 3 turn spider hitch. From my leader to tippet I usually use a uni to uni or blood knot. For my fly connection I either use a non-slip mono loop or a good old fashioned clinch knot.

Lets face it! Grayling are not the biggest fish on the block. But do not let that take away the fact that they are salmonids. They are voracious eaters – I have seen grayling fit things into their mouth that they have no business even looking at. So, I’ve gone away from #16 and #18 dry flies and took some advice from my fishing brother and mentor Big Will – I now fish size 2 to 8 streamers. These streamers are sparsely tied and usually have bead, cone or lead eyes. I have even started tying small, sparse Intruder-style tubes and stinger hook patterns.

Dries

When I fish dries, I usually fish Chernobyl Ants or Hickman’s Hankey – nothing smaller than a size 12. Grayling will attempt to “drown” these flies, so patience is key for solid hook ups. Make sure that the fish is running away with the snack before you set the hook. With the size of flies we are using we’re limiting the chance of a deep hook set. You will want to keep a tight connection to the fly, reducing the chance of a mini monster swallowing something he should not!

When the salmon are coming in I won’t hesitate to throw on a 6mm or 8mm bead, with no indicator and a very tight connection. Typically you won’t even need split shot as grayling like drifted eggs. With beads I use a size 4-6 hook.

Tight Lines.

When Jason is not catching Mini Monsters OR anything else that is willing to bite, he Manages Big Ray’s Fly Shop in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Rainbow Trout

The prettiest fish anywhere. They live all over the river, and range from smallish to gigantic. We catch them all season long on foot and from the boat, on single and double handed rods, on wet flies and on dry flies, sight fishing and not. We’ve got a big roundup page on rainbow trout.

Chum Salmon

They break more rods than any other fish because they’re super strong and they’re really plentiful. They come in with the kings and keep coming later in the season. They’re an awesome game fish. Here are our blog posts on chums – worth reading about, and definitely worth fishing for. a.k.a. dog salmon.

Dolly Varden

Arctic char and dolly varden are basically indistinguishable in our river unless you’re a biologist. Their lifecycles are all over the map – both resident and anadromous. Some of them are stunningly beautiful. Their numbers are mind boggling and they’re lots of fun on lightweight gear.

Sockeye Salmon

They head upriver like they’re on a conveyor belt. Fly fishing for them is a little unconventional. They’re really tasty. a.k.a. red salmon.

Pink Salmon

Pigmy silvers! Seriously, they’re like silvers only smaller. They’re around every year but really, really abundant every other year. You can catch them on poppers! a.k.a. humpy salmon.

Grayling

Elegant is a really good word to describe grayling. We catch them all year round – and in fact our grayling fishing has been improving dramatically over the past 6 or 7 years. They love traditional dry flies and are a perfect excuse to bring your three or four weight to Alaska.

Silver Salmon

Mayhem arrives at Alaska West every August in the form of silver salmon. Hot, bright, aggressive towards all flies including poppers, great jumpers and strong fighters. This is numbers-oriented Alaskan fishing at its finest. a.k.a. coho salmon.